There’s been a rollercoaster unfolding on social media and enthusiast forums today, after Ubisoft included a throwaway comment in a blog post suggesting that several of its Assassin’s Creed and PlayStation VR titles would not be playable on the PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility. “Most of our back catalogue of games will have backward compatibility between the next and current generation of consoles, with a few exceptions,” a spokesperson for the French firm said.
These games, allegedly, include: Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles Trilogy Pack, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia, Risk, Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Werewolves Within, and Space Junkies. It’s a considerable assembly of titles, particularly when you consider Sony recently said that only 10 PS4 games would not work on PS5.
We contacted both Sony and Ubisoft representatives for a comment on this, but we’re yet to hear back from either company. A spokesperson for the latter firm did, however, provide Gematsu with the following comment: “We have pulled the Ubisoft Connect article and forum post regarding backwards compatibility for the time being as there may be inaccuracies involving the Ubisoft titles that will be playable on PS5.”
On the PlayStation Store, releases like Assassin’s Creed Syndicate include a disclaimer explaining that the “game may exhibit errors or unexpected behaviour and some features available on PS4 may be absent”. However, there’s no mention of it being unplayable. Perhaps Ubisoft is simply unhappy with the abovementioned titles’ performance in backwards compatibility – or perhaps this is just a big ol' mix-up. We’ll update if we learn more.
[source ubisoftconnect.com]
Comments 99
I never realised how many people have been waiting five years to play Assassin's Creed Syndicate until today.
@get2sammyb I honestly just bought it in the sale last week. I guess I’m probably the only person here in that situation 😂😂
I'm honestly surprised Ubisoft even remembers Assassins Creed Syndicate even exists.
To be honest, Syndicate is my 2nd favourite Creed game!! The 1st is definitely Odyssey, malakas.
I want to understand the frustration, but looking at the list of games, who cares? It's a bummer for those who may one day want to play Assassin's Creed Russia, but as long as the major ps4 titles are playable then that's all that matters.
As long as Unity works and will run 60 FPS, I'm okay with this. Syndicate would be a bummer tho, that's the first AC game I bought for my PS4 but Unity is my favorite despite the bugs and glitches
Syndicate is a poor-mans avoidance of being Unity. It takes out ambition and good ideas and the variety of weapons that played differently for the most weightless combat (and driving) in the series with cool ideas that are wasted. Top hat switched for the hood? Super cool looking. Walking serves no purpose though and retains Unity’s crowd blending system without any of it’s crowds to do it. Making it broken.
It’s a rushed game that didn’t even bother looking at at the good parts of Unity (read: most of it aside from tech issues) or taking the time the work with it’s ambition.
Oh, and the grappling hook is a horrid waste to excuse poorer level designs and how much less Syndicate is a animated than Unity. They couldn’t even bother explaining why it was in the game. In fact, the history in the game is poor by series standards and you can feel it in the basic atmosphere, the lack of love, attention, and accuracy.
That being said, I want other titles to work on PS5 on this list (like Werewolves Within) and if these don’t work it’s an overall sign about other games. I don’t want niche games getting left behind.
@get2sammyb It’s the sole reason for me to upgrade to ps5 😂
@wiiware Reading some parts of Twitter, there are genuinely people pretending like they're not joking about this!
@Medic_Alert That's fair, but I think there's a bit more nuance to the discussion required here. The disclaimer doesn't say they won't play, just that they may exhibit errors.
Until we know what those errors are, it's not worth losing our minds over. And even if those errors render the games effectively unplayable, it is still just 100 out of over 4,000, which is a decent return.
Alot of people do care, yes it's no big deal to some people but stop trying to dismiss it like its nothing to suit your obvious agenda
@StylesT A lot of people is optimistic in this instance. More like a small but extremely vocal group on social media.
That said, no one's dismissing this at all. Hence why we contacted both Sony and Ubisoft as soon as the news broke and have spent much of the evening trying to get an answer.
The Gematsu statement (and the removal of the information from Ubisoft's website) is the latest we have on the matter. We'll update if and when we learn more. 🤷♀️
Here is the PS5 fans are concerned article haha
I don’t play Ubisoft/EA/Activision games but have planned from the start to keep my PS4 plugged in and suggest others do the same.
me! still haven't played syndicate but I own it, would like to play it at some point
Ubisoft “game may exhibit errors or unexpected behaviour and some features may be absent” isn't that what comes on the front sticker of all Ubisoft games
I'm not going to sell my PS4 anyway. Mostly because it was my first console and I want to keep it but also because of things like this.
My take from the day Sony made the statement is the games they listed would not even start up. Other games might crash or not work half way through the game, on specific missions, or have very bad glitches.
I don't think Sony would had given that disclaimer if it was extremely uncommon for some games not to work and error out while playing.
@get2sammyb I know this will sound crazy, but I plan to play it soon. Been having a full assassins Creed marathon, not in order, just finished 100% ezio collection, and deciding what to go got next.
I already platinum this in PS4 though, I plan to replay it on Xbox next, so this is a case where I, personally, don't mind much if the PS5 can't run it.
@nessisonett you bring a good point, Ubisoft been running some good sales on the series building up to Vallhala. I'm sure a lot of people been buying the games and looking forward to play them with faster load times.
I bought all AC games recently for XBox because of these sales (owned them all on PS4 in physycal format.)
I do worry how many other games will come up giving disclaimers. I guess I'm going to have to keep a PS4 around for personal library preservation sake.
@Tharsman Yep, I have the whole series now, onto Black Flag and utterly baffled at the lack of rest mode in it. Hopefully that’s a game with a PS5 patch.
I’ll test them myself in 2 weeks..
Absolutely no excuse for a company with these resources. SMH
@get2sammyb hahahahaha hahah
Then don't sale your PS4. That way you can play your PS4 games.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi then play it on your PS4.
Source: Me in the other thread
@StylesT
I agree with Push Square most of the time, sometimes I don't, but whether they're right or wrong, to say they have an agenda here is way off the mark.
They're openly critical of Sony when it's warranted, and sometimes, I would argue, when it's not.
But they absolutely don't have an agenda.
The truth is the amount of people who will care about this, let alone know about it, is relatively very small.
It's a shame, sure. We'd all love every PlayStation game ever to work on PS5, and this new list has come out of nowhere (and since been removed), but I'm getting a ps5 for Demon's Souls, Spidey, Horizon, God of War, Ratchet and Clank... I just don't see this list impacting me in any way.
I know people will worry about the accuracy of the original list now, and I won't be dismissive of that. I just won't be worrying.
"We contacted both Sony and Ubisoft representatives for a comment on this, but we’re yet to hear back from either company."
I mean, has that ever worked?
It must be fixable if the developer wishes to sort it out? Maybe Sony can help them with the issue?
@JapaneseSonic No one thinks Xbox One has "no nuance" BC with 360. It has some, in a limited way that requires internet connection to download a re-packaged version. They are praised on that front simply for trying. All PS did on that front was sell us a handful of repackaged PS2 games from rockstar, among a handful others. Even that, they abandoned.
Right now, when people do mention anything along "no nuance" for BC, they specifically are talking about Xbox Series consoles being able to run all Xbox One games (so long they don't require kinect, something I guess some can see as a caveat.)
I'd pretend to care, but I don't even remember the last time I bought a Ubisoft game.
I spend £450 on a new game console to go forwards not backwards, else what is the point. Always have done since the 80s.
@Tharsman How do you know what they have tested or even how? I surely dont know you talk with a lot of assumptions.
The difference here is Xbox have a dedicated team to update games for backward compatibility while Sony are relying on the dev to update their own games. That's why some games have been receiving fresh updates. I'm one gamer who just bought the AC back catalogue to enjoy on PS5 game boost. I guess I will play Syndicate on PS4 before the rest on PS5. Ubisoft doesn't have to update the game for full compatibility, but it would be good if they did.
Also, the original article this stems from was discussing the close of Uplay and intro to ubisoft connect. I originally thought they were saying the game won't work with ubisoft connect.
At least they're not the big hitters, but it isn't a good look. I hope they clarify this soon.
In all probability it's excessive legal CYA for any issues that show up. But it also may not be. If they're fudging their way through bc... That's ugly. Either way it signals a lack of commitment to fixing bc issues in all games which makes it a less complete bc then the competitor.
@JapaneseSonic the difference is that series has compatibility for a growing list of select 360 and xb titles, and those titles are individually listed and verified where licensing or tech isn't in the way. And it has 100% compatibility for all non kinect x1 games (tested and verified by the mfr.) Ps5 says 99% compatibility with ps4, zero with ps3 and ps2.
And the question here is if that's verified and tested or if they see if it hits the load screen and declare it close enough with no commitment to resolve issues. Maybe it's fine and they're just overdoing the "please don't sue us" rhetoric.
@octane assassin's creed and lbp 3 are pretty major titles....
@Dezzy70
Couldn’t have put it better myself.
My PS4 is noisy and filthy, I can’t wait to unplug it and move on to the 5. I sure as hell won’t be playing AC syndicate on it, that’s for sure.
Syndicate is a good game. Two charming lead protagonists, an autumnal London which can look gorgeous at times, some decent set pieces and some other colourful characters. I had a good time with it.
Hopefully this issue will be clarified and resolved so people can play it on PS5 with enhancements and not a diluted experience.
The PS4 didn’t really have any BC and either has the Switch. And we know the sales figures, I rest my case. BC is a little nice to have but the general public want new games and experiences, moving forward with the power of a new console they paid good money for.
Let's hope my unplayed "Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection" will work properly on PS5. Shame not being able to play "Star Wars: Bridge Crew" anymore.
Theres an article on Kotaku (*edit: not sure it was Kotaku now as I can’t find it, d’oh!) right now regarding Rockstar wanting to bring some of its older games to next gen and people are saying how they really want to play San Andreas on their PS5. Also I know some are hyped for a Mass Effect trilogy.
Whenever people say they don’t want to play old games, as a blanket statement, it just sounds like they are trying to convince themselves.
@JapaneseSonic everything the Xbox One can play (so games from xbox one and specific games from 360 and OG) can be played on Series X. So thats where the 100% backwards compatible (apart from kinect) comes from. And it is extremely strong BC.
It is a fantastic feature to have and it has encouraged Sony to at least try to have some BC. Since before they tried speaking for the gamers when they said it has no value.
@NEStalgia I don't see LBP3 in the article? Unless I'm missing something?
I've always wanted to re-play the games and would be disappointing if I didn't get to play Syndicate on PS. But knowing me I say that for a lot of games too and never actually re-play any of them. I'm always too busy playing new games to even have time to play the older ones.
Will still be keeping my PS4 Pro so will have that if it didn't work.
@Medic_Alert Okay, so we don't really know for sure until launch then.
Maybe it's just missing the user-created content for example. If don't know if it needs a separate server for that.
@Medic_Alert The PS Store links to this website, and the part at the bottom is probably what they're referring to: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/get-help/help-library/apps---features/playstation-apps---features/backward-compatibility-ps4-games-on-ps5/
''PS4 tournaments'', ''In-Game Live from PlayStation'' are not supported on PS5, neither is the ''PS4 Second Screen app or game companion apps''. And ''the SHARE menu cannot be displayed during PS4 gameplay on PS5 consoles.''.
TBH, I don't even know what PS4 tournaments are, or what in-game live is. But it sounds like a bunch of online-related features may not be supported on PS5. A game like LBP3 may have some missing features as a result. I assume the bulk is still playable like before, otherwise they would've said something about that by now.
I'd actually enjoy it if some games are a broken mess, especially Ubisoft ones. I might get a bit of enjoyment out of them then.
@Medic_Alert Yeah, but at the same time that comment from Ubisoft was pulled from their site, stating it contained inaccuracies. So it's anyone's guess at this point. The only problem is that there's an embargo on PS5 news, so someone like DF can't just make a video about it.
I have a fondness for Syndicate and never completed all the DLC, so it’s a game I’d like to go back to. If this is is true it is a bit of the shame, it’s not a bad game by any means, it captures the atmosphere of Victorian London well, although some of the missions can be rather bland - it really fails to do anything new and it’s not surprising that this title closed a chapter on the series. I agree that Unity introduced more interesting concepts from a design point of view - the large crowds and the brilliant notion of foregoing the now standard day-to-night cycle. The decision to opt for perpetual golden hour lighting adds a consistency to the aesthetic design that means it still holds up years after release. I certainly hope Unity performs better on PS5 as it appears to on Series X, although perhaps this is wishful thinking.
It’s not about “Who the heck wants to play Syndicate in 2020”, but more about how robust the PS5 BC is. I think it’s more on Sony. It came out yesterday that to use PSVR you need to be using the PS4 versions of NMS or Hitman 3 via BC. The PS5 versions cant support PSVR. In fairness to Sony they are really just a starting out with BC if you consider their previous attempts were just including old hardware in new machines, but MS are so far ahead in this aspect.
What the heck? I'm assuming all those "Chronicles" titles are small episodes making a whole game. Never even heard of any of those Assassin titles.
I thought Sony made a statement about the games that would not work? Was that a lie?
The specific games don’t bother me but the premise does, one of the biggest reasons I preordered a ps5 is to play my current games at better performance, yes I probably would have bought a ps5 eventually but the current slate of next gen games don’t do it for me, especially at the prices they are. I’d been tempted by a pro for a while but held off so could get the ultra hd blue ray too.
@Peach64 has that been confirmed about PSVR? I also saw Sony’s recent comments on PSVR sounding very much like abandonment. Typical of them.
@Medic_Alert
Do agree about the switch but I’m talking massive sales to the general public the switch has not sold and it’s not due to old SNES and NES games that come with the online behind a pay wall. I know lots of general public with the Switch and they don’t even know about going online with the Switch etc they just play the new games they have.
See we live in the Gamer Bubble, but the general public, the mass sales do not.
The PS5 over the years to come will sell just as many without any BC just like the PS4 did.
@get2sammyb I think it's because the Xbox series x / s will play the games with no problem and Playstation fans will have to have multiple systems underneath their TV to do the same thing.
@Peach64 @Robinsad Here is the article regarding the "Sony Spokesperson" stating PSVR is only available via backwards compatibility for Hitman 3 and No Man's Sky: https://uploadvr.com/psvr-games-on-ps5/
However, Hitman 3 is listed for PS5 on the store and mentions being 'VR enabled'. There is no listing for No Man's Sky for PS5, but the PS4 listing still mentions VR. Will know more when the games come out on PS5.
To be honest, it was irresponsible of Sony to officially announce that only a handful of PS4 games won't work on PS5 before thoroughly checking the matter with all respective developers.
@Veturius yeah they've stated that 10 games are completely unplayable on PS5. Other games are now emerging as having "possible glitches" while playing on the PS5. We won't know the whole picture of these glitches and how unplayable the games will be until they are tested. Ubisoft saying they don't work and then retract the statement is a bit suspect.
@nessisonett well just to make you more baffled unity doesn’t support rest mode either. Iirc rest mode was added early 2015 and a few games didn’t get patched to support it. Syndicate does though! (Assuming you get to play it).
Also remember to pick up the unity DLC since it’s free as an apology for the game.
Speaking from my playthrough of syndicate in late 2017 the base game was fine on my pro but I got terrible lag and glitches in the DLC. Hopefully it’s that causing the issue as I didn’t like the dlc anyways. Base game was great,
"PS5 fans are very concerned..."
Are they, though? Really? Or is it just the usual overly-vocal minority of people who only seem to be happy when they're whining about something?
@Veturius They would have been able to check themselves though? Don't necessarily need developer input to ascertain whether a title works or not.
Domestos kills 99% of germs. It probably kills 100%, but the can't be sure so they say 99%. Same thing here.
Wow. Divided community again… One half says that ”nobody cares” and the other half is making a huge problem out of this. Whole point is that Sony said there will be BC and there will be huge testing of every compatible game. Up until recently, nobody knew how many games will work. Then they stated that 99.9 % will work and then they released the list of 10–or–so games that won't work. If there are growing concerns that more titles are not completely compatible I would like to know why, and how much. The communication could be better. And there is one thing that kills the ”just keep your PS4 to play PS4 games” opinion – the boost that EVERY game that's played, gets. Even if it means only a better framerate and faster loading in the older PS4 titles – it's still there and PS5 will be ”the best place to play” performance-wise. So it's not just a BC with the same experience – it's enhanced. Why would I keep PS4 then?
@get2sammyb looking at the titles all I can say is.....arsed.
@Paranoimia itll be those pesky xbox fans with their shenanigans.
The main thing I'm worried about is if my save file from AC Odyssey will be carried over from PS4 to PS5. I'm about 24 hours in and really don't wanna have to restart on PS5, although I suppose I could just finish on PS4, but would love to be able to finish on PS5.
@get2sammyb Although I'm guessing there'd be an embargo on answering this directly,IF there are any of the named titles floating around physically or digitally...Push Square could actually boot a couple up on the PS5 & find out for themselves!
I read "assassin's creed: star trek: bridge crew" and was thinking "when the fcuk did that come out?!" 😆😆
@Dezzy70 very different situation. ps4 is the market leader with 113 million existing customers upgrading.
Ps4 early adopters that owned ps3 did care about bc. We just had no choice because our ps3 was trapped on its own architecture and ms and Nintendo had a doa console. Though honestly more of my play time the first half of the gen went to wii bc on the wiiu and ds bc on 3ds.
Compared to ps5 replacing ps4s massive install base and huge library, Switch replaced wiiu with a minimal install base and a small library. And that small library remains some of the best selling games on switch. Those "new" games people are buying on their switch aren't new at all, they're old bc games from a console they never owned ported forward like tlou and uncharted remastered, because the architecture is different and doesn't accommodate bc. What's Nintendo's big launch this weekend?. Pikmin 3. A launch window game from the prior console nobody owned. If 113m people bought a wiiu you can bet Pikmin 3 and Mario 3d world bc would matter. But like with ps3, it's not possible.
Prior to this, Nintendo has maintained bc for 1-2 gens on most of their consoles. All handhelds, and all consoles except switch, ds lite, snes, and gcn (their first disc system, nothing to bc on). They've been doing bc more than anyone. Sony did it for ps1 games and had to include the old soc to do it. until they blew ps3 and had to remove it. Sony remains the outlier of the 3 in terms of bc being a key focus, with switch being a necessary exception post-cartride, not the rule. People have always cared about bc. And ps4s success doesn't disprove that. It only reflects that ps4 had no serious competition at all until switch arrived and by then, momentum was established.
Heck Play Station began as a Nintendo disc console built entirely on snes bc..... So the only reason SNES bc wasn't even a reality on the market was the internal fallout from Sony trying to screw Nintendo in the contract....... Anti bc is kind of PS entire mode of existence....
Ps5 will sell regardless of how well bc works. It's the ps6 launch that gets affected by what happens now, With any policy or technology issues that happen with ps5.
Like how wiiu was shaped by how wii was handled and ps3 was shaped by how ps2 was handled.
@Octane yeah it could just be legal overkill protectiveness against any possible issue. But on the surface it seems like lack of confidence in how bc performs.... And specifically for specific games. It's weird wording either way. Even if it's just a bunch of nothing. after "99% of games will work", weird "may work like a Bethesda launch title" wording is unexpected.
I'm gonna go ahead and take ubi soft a word for it... Sony might not be lying when they say the games "run" but that doesn't mean you can play them.
Wonder how many more games that connect to online services also "run" but can't actually be played? Between this and the fact that the ps5 isn't running on genuine RDNA2 architecture is some bad news right before launch.
Sony's messaging since that September event has been absolutely awful. They lied about "we believe in generations", they lied about giving people enough notice about preorders and now it's looking like they lied about backwards compatibility.
I wonder what else they lied about.
@Snick27 thanks for the most excellent advice
I have a pretty substantial back catalogue of games I've yet to play on my PS4 pro this generation. 2 of those games are assassin's creed origins & odyssey. While I've been looking forward to playing them I simply haven't had the time to dive head first into these massive titles. I was actually content with the idea of trading in my PS4 pro towards the PS5 within the next 6 months because none of the 10 games Sony listed are in my catalogue. Now hearing these rumors I'm concerned about possibly not being able to play them on my PS5 & while I could play them on my wife's PS4 slim I feel like I shouldn't have to. Sony made me feel GREAT when they came out & said "almost ALL of the PS4 games will be playable on PlayStation 5" & now I'm wondering just how true that is. While I've been on PlayStation my entire life with the occasional XBOX / nintendo console my mainstay has been with Sony. That being said I actually commend microsoft greatly for making sure the XSX is backwards compatible with ALL previous Xbox generations! I understand that's not possible simply because of the cell architecture on the PS3 but AMD handled the PS4 & now they're handling the PS5 i genuinely hoped Sony would've been thinking about backwards compatibility from the start. I hope we are updated on this matter, until then, happy gaming my friends ✌️
AC Syndicate is one of best assassins. Not as great as Revelations, but quite relief after Unity.
@NEStalgia I find it unlikely they would provide us with 10 random games that won't work, and then it turns out Assassin's Creed and LBP don't work. We'll know in 2 more weeks, but I think they will work just fine, minus some online stuff. It's like when they said "most" PS4 games work on PS5 and it turned out to be every game except for a dozen games, presumably.
They are weirdly protective in that regard. Just like how they don't advertise current gen upgrades, or BC at all.
@get2sammyb Maybe some people just like picking up and playing titles at their own pace rather than in some arbitrary acceptable time frame.
@JapaneseSonic No-one has ever claimed that.
@get2sammyb I get it won't be a major issue for most people but it is slightly concerning to find out this close to launch. Are there any others we don't know about?
On a separate note, I have literally only just started the AC franchise about 2 months ago. I skipped them completely for the PS3/360 generation and just bought the entire series for Xbox because they're BC.
@Octane Very possibly. Though i think I'd question "overprotective" and rephrase it as "non committal". They seem to not have any serious interest in their bc, ran the numbers and determined financially it isn't of import to them, and are just half baked about supporting it, seemingly going 2 directions at once.
The PSVitaR thing is particularly coming off as completely ambivalent about their own continued support.
You could say they are primarily interested in the blue ocean.......
@Flaming_Kaiser THEY told us that many games would have errors and to test our own games before even buying any more DLC for them.
We also know, based at least from one of the devs that is fixing their game, that at the games they listed as not working likely did not even launch.
Now we know from Ubisoft that the list of games with errors is not insignificant.
You can make your own conclusions from all that, I will make mine.
Keep in mind i said what was my take. I never said "this is what happened." But the facts coming out tell me that for sure they didnt test every game all the way through.
I guess I am more disappointed if games exhibit significant errors in BC due to the fact I really want rid of my jet engine sounding PS4 Pro... but we don't know what errors it will produce until a hands on with the PS5
Skate 3 ended up back in the top ten UK digital sales because of an xbox sale and BC.
Or as @get2sammyb would put it "I didn't know so many people waited 10 years to play Skate 3".
The list looks longer than it is really as a) these games have long titles and b) Assassin’s Creed Chronicles Trilogy Pack includes Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China and Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia so are sort of listed twice.
@Richnj the exception that proves the rule.
@JapaneseSonic very well said.
@Grumblevolcano those lying liars lie a lot.
@naruball As if getting in to a top ten list is the only meaningful amount of demand.
There's no company like Unisoft to wade in at a new console release.
Is Neil concerned about Ubisoft's comments? Coz I'm VERY concerned about Ubisoft's comments
#brentbyaccident
We're really not that worried
AC Syndicate has is fair share of bugs in PS4.
Ubisoft's super janky and outdated AC Engine doesn't run on PS5 and now they finally have to fix it? Oh no!!!
@JapaneseSonic Amen to this. I find it hilarious how much slack people cut Microsoft and Nintendo, but when Sony does something like this then the internet explodes. And honestly, didn't Syndicate have plenty of bugs on the current gen anyways?
And nothing of value was lost.
I'm kind of disappointed about the Star Trek game one of the best VR games I've ever played.
Can care Less for Backwards compatibility, I'm buying a PS5 to play PS5 "Games". I keep all my game consoles, still rocking my NES from 1986 every now and then!
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